Normally, a slogan for a bridge is the sort of the marketing and awareness gimmick that I ignore, not least so that they don’t wind me up and cause a blood pressure incident. But, in this case, I feel it is justified, for what is surely one of the most dramatic and graceful viaducts or bridges of this or any era.

The Millau Viaduct (Viaduc de Millau in French) is on the A75 autoroute running south from Paris and Clermont-Ferrand to Beziers and Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast, before splitting to the west for Languedoc and Spain, and to the east for the French Riviera, Marseilles and Italy. It is the tallest bridge in the world, reaching 1125ft above ground level to the top of the tallest mast; the road deck is 890ft above the ground at its maximum, which is the highest in Europe. The piers are taller than the Eiffel Tower, and the second pier, known as P2, is the tallest structure in France.

The viaduct (this is much, much more than a bridge) crosses the River Tarn and its Gorge close to the town of Millau, taking the A75 away from the town and eliminating a notorious bottleneck in the town itself. As always and everywhere, the period from first idea to the start of building was longer than you might think necessary – in this case from 1987 to 2001.

Various routes were considered – as well as the selected high level route, there were alternative routes further from Millau and a low level solution at Millau proposed, with the autoroute descending into the valley, crossing the river on a bridge and then running through a tunnel. The high solution was selected, and this is when this great viaduct started to take shape. This route crosses the Tarn Gorge up to 890 ft above the floor of the gorge, directly between two large limestone causses, or plateaux, and is within the Parc Regional desGrands Causses national park.

Five competing ideas were selected for detailed assessment by the French government, and aesthetically the chosen design was a clear winner. The design was by Norman Foster, probably Britain’s greatest practising architect and one of the world’s greatest architects of the last 50 years, and the structural design by Frenchman Michel Virlogeux and the Dutch company Arcadis. Final details, including wind tunnel testing (up to 140 mph), were completed in 1998 and the design officially selected late that year.

The statistics of the viaduct are worth noting – the length is 8070 ft long, with six central spans each measuring 1122 ft and the outer spans at 699 ft each. The road deck is up to 890 ft above the river, at the time the world’s highest. 166,000 cu yd of concrete were used in the construction with 21,000 tons of steel reinforcing it and around 5500 tons of steel cables holding it all together. The pylon masts (the pier and the mast above the road deck) are the tallest in the world, reaching up to 803 ft and the highest pylon in the world at 1125 ft. Perhaps surprisingly, to non civil engineers at least, the piers are located in shafts only 49 ft deep.

Also, though not always clear in a photograph, the viaduct is curved around a radius of 12 miles.

The construction used some innovative techniques also; The bridge deck was constructed on land at the ends of the viaduct and rolled lengthwise from one pylon to the next; eight temporary towers provided additional support, accomplished using a system of pairs of wedges under the deck, with the upper and lower wedges of each pair pointing in opposite directions. The temporary towers were also used to erect the masts on top of the piers, the cables pensioned and the temporary towers removed. The construction was led by the Eiffage Group, and the steel work for the roadway was completed by Eiffel Company, the builder of many viaducts and famous towers in France for 130 years.

Building work commenced in October 2001, the piers completed by November 2003 and roadway in place in June 2004. The bridge opened by French President Jacques Chirac (seen above left, with Norman Foster) in December 2004, actually a month ahead of schedule. Construction cost €400 million (around $475 million) and the current road toll is €7 each way. The toll plaza is at the north end.

One of the concerns about the viaduct, raised during the assessment period, was that it would negatively affect the economy of Millau, by taking the traffic away from the town, or alternatively that the traffic would not accept the toll and continue to use the old route.

Not for the first time, it has been proved that great architecture and infrastructure can increase economic activity, and not adversely effect traditional economies either. Well, these sheep are herded down a village street every evening just a few miles away and not only are the visitor and information centres always busy these people are coming to the town and the surrounding area whereas previously they either passed by or just didn’t go there. It has also been used for marathon races and the Tour de France.

I really enjoy bridge architecture. Thanks for sharing this. Amazing how different it looks in the various photos, and the lightning photo is phenomenal. Since the masts are natural lightning rods, I wonder how frequent this is, and what it would be like to be on the viaduct during a lightning strike.

Beautiful bridge. During our last year or two in Innsbruck (1959-1960) the construction of the “Europa Bridge” was underway. It was the world’s tallest bridge at the time, and for some time thereafter. It was a critical link in building the Brenner Pass autobahn. We would hike up there just to watch them build the tall piers.

I was thinking the exact same thing. The two newest river bridges over the Mississippi River (in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau) each cost well over $100M. Both were suspension bridges like this but are shorter with fewer spans and aren’t curved.

The cost of building Viaduc de Millau was a biggest eye-opening news for the people and politicians in San Francisco Bay Area and California. They relentlessly and mercilessly derided Caltrans for the runaway cost of constructing the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to replace the ancient span damaged in 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

If French could build something so beautiful and so cheap in a short time span, Caltrans could have done the same for less than the projected cost of $6.4 billion. A bitter lesson for Caltrans and politicians…

What are right of way costs around one of the most expensive cities in the USA? What are the environmental impacts in one of the most environmentally sensitive states? How much will it cost to mitigate or avoid them?

This would likely be a design build project, not a design, bid, build project, so the estimates probably include the R/W, engineering, permitting, mitigation costs, etc that few realize.

How many companies just happen to be in town who can undertake a project like that? The lowest bidder will have to move an army of well paid specialized people to a very expensive place to live for years.

The construction cost of a project is what the lowest bidder bids, regardless of what the estimates are. You know, capitalism, make a profit, the almighty dollar – not what Caltrans or the FHWA, who will the ones probably paying for most of it with their Federal match, says it will cost.

Most of the money spent on road and bridge construction goes to private companies who design (if not done in house) and build them. A minuscule amount covers the government agency’s engineering and oversight costs. With this much money at stake, the lobbyest for engineering and construction firms worldwide are doing everything they can to get a piece of the pie.

Government money is spent at for profit businesses who grease the wheels of our society – that’s how things really work. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just how human societies function.

Lovely, it must be a real treat to drive over. I once owned a Peugot 504 and driving it across would be perfect. Nice warm day, windows and sunroof open, magic carpet ride, comfy seats, diesel clattering away, the promise of a delicious meal on the other side of the bridge.

Being an American who has never been to France, I’m sure my daydream is not realistic, but that’s what daydreams are for. What’s the reality? Do current French cars have the hard seats and hard ride that seem to be the norm these days? Is there a McDonalds at the first exit after the bridge?

Location of bed rock is definitely the biggie. Bedrock around where I live is about 2′ deep but it varies wildly around the state.

On the flip-side I am still impressed to see the various wood piling bridges around. They are functionally obsolete but they do tend to persevere. Some of the poorer counties here still have bridges made of railroad flatcars.